Letters to the editor

Gov. Perry's plan for the economy; using student test scores to evaluate teachers;

In the 1960s, a computer filled a climate-controlled room. That a kid operating out of his basement could play global thermonuclear war was science fiction. In those days, computers were connected through specialized, custom circuits, not telephone lines.

Let's not blame the Internet innovators for failing to include security features for which they could not possibly have foreseen the need.

Thanks to The Times for informing us of the progress of preventive healthcare. Our society is drowned in ads for unhealthful foods and vehicles that serve as substitutes for walking.

For those who complain that the carrots and sticks being utilized to achieve healthier lifestyles amount to a "nanny state," I agree. But ads conducive to unhealthful lifestyles play with our psychology and are like carrots and sticks.

If people had to vote, the "nanny state" would win over the "sick state."

Rather than dwelling on a relatively minor waste of money spent on Radio and TV Marti broadcasts to Cuba, why not discuss our ability to shoot ourselves in the foot big time?

Take the impending and likely entrance (several international producers are financing the drilling, and are optimistic) of Cuba into the club of oil exporting nations, for example. That event will throw the U.S. blockade into the dustbin of history.

Cuba's leadership will continue to resist any oversight from the U.S. What is it about "no" that we don't understand?

It is an outrage and an act of arrogance on the part of L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to threaten to replace Roberta Conroy as board president of the City Employees' Retirement System. Conroy understands her fiduciary responsibility to the system's beneficiaries and keeps their best interests at heart.

The mayor needs to stay out of the actuarial business of the city's pension fund.